Jiro's normally blue aura is shot with lines of red as his anger flashes into physical form. His lunges forward, willing to trade taking a hit for unleashing a devastating attack. It's a gamble...

One that pays off. The amount of energy that Jiro manages to pour into his fist is enough to break walls and propel human sized targets high into the air. This is just what happens, as the vampire goes flying.

Down below, Alex is still being beat on by a number of vampire. However, she has managed gather herself enough that she is able to ward off the majority of the blows.

15:27, Today: Gamemaster rolled 15 using 1d20+10. Toughness Save.
Vampire Boss - Taking Flying Lessons
Jiro -
Vampire Minions -
Alex - Prone
15:39, Today: Gamemaster rolled 12,13,14,22,10,9 using 1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8,1d20+8. Attacking Alex.
1 DC 21 hit.
 

Alex fought like a wildcat, trying to avoid the blows. She fended off most of them, but left herself exposed to a vicious strike by a lead pipe. This time she did scream as her ribs buckled.

[OOC: 15:56, Today: Alex rolled 7 using 1d20+5. Toughness Save.  Staggered + Stunned]

Watching the vampire he'd struck streak off into the night sky, Jiro allowed himself a moment of smirking. Then, smoothly, he backflipped, one hand drawing the sharpened stake Alex had loaned him and landing among the vampires who had been pounding on her. "Oyasuminasai, vampires."

He struck hard and fast, leaving himself perhaps more open than he should have to try and finish them quickly. "Time to die again."

[OOC: Skill Mastery Acrobatics FTW, drawing a stake as I jump down.
13:12, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 28 using 1d20+15. Stake Attack on nearest vamp, AoA for 5. If this kills the initial target I'll be using Takedown Attack(2) to continue against the others. Array in Ki Strike.]

EDIT: spelling
This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Thu 16 June 2011.

Jiro lands in the group like an avenging angel. He strikes faster then the mortal eye can see, and a full half dozen vampires explode into dust. The four remaining vamps just turn and run, leaping through a hatch in the floor and scattering through the sewers.

Jiro's smirk grew for a moment as he tucked the stake back into a pocket with a minor flourish, then vanished as he glanced from the hatch to the hole in the roof to Alex's battered form. Moving to her, his ki shifts into a pale blue luminescence. "Please excuse my hands, Alex-san. I fear we cannot linger long. I got rid of the one on the roof, but only temporarily. As you suggested, this is probably a good time for us to fade. Merciful Spirit's Grasp." Ki energy flows from Jiro into Alex's bruised body, guiding its own energies to health.

[OOC: array is in healing for this, applying a heal to Alex.]

Alex just lay back as the vampires fled, breathing shallowly thanks to the ribs she was certain were broken. That had been profoundly painful. Thank God for Jiro.



The girl relaxed for the coming healing, which by now as becoming familiar and welcome. Jiro's hands came to rest on her body and the warmth started to flow into her.

That flow became a flood as it found her rib. She sat bolt upright, her eyes wide.

"Wow." She exclaimed, as she probed at her formerly broken ribs.

"That was..." Alex looked at Jiro with wonder on her face.

[OOC = 20:38, Today: Alex rolled 20 using 1d20+17. Recovery Check.
Staggered and 2 bruises. ]

Jiro's concerned expression softened into a smile. "Not for nothing did I tell Zhang Peter it was my healing of which I was most proud." He continued to concentrate, keeping the flow of healing ki coming. "The rib should be fine, but I would suggest being careful of it for the next day or so, if we can. A little time for the bone to knit fully. Merciful spirit's grasp."

[ooc: another round of healing on Alex.]

Alex gave him a lazy smile as the warmth filled her again. "Damn that feels good."

She looks like she might say more, but shakes her head then leaps to her feet instead. "We're in bat country, so let's take the scenic route. Shall we?"

[OOC - 21:03, Today: Alex rolled 21 using 1d20+17. Recovery Check. That's 3 more bruises. At 1 bruise per round of rest anyway, she's more then healed by now.]

"Let's shall, Alex-san. We should keep our eyes open, however. We saw more earlier than came to 'collect' us."

He stands as well, prepared to follow Alex and watch their back trail. "I suggest our route back not be entirely direct. No reason to make things easy on any watchers."

[OOC: array is back in Ki Strike for the utility, ready to start abusing my skill masteries on the trip back to the hotel.]

"Guess the reference missed you. Scenic Route means to take the long way round. Now... try to keep up!"

Alex takes off at a run, heading more or less towards downtown.

Jiro pursues. "Ah yes, Alex-san... I had thought you simply ment roofhopping - seeing the sights as we went over them."

He jumps along in silence for a moment, moving with his characteristic grace and keeping an eye on the passing streets below, then smiles. "We were somewhere over Emerald City, heading for downtown, when the adrenaline began to take hold... I Remember saying 'I feel light-headed, Alex-san, perhaps you should lead.' Suddenly, there was a horrid roar and the skies were full of what looked like huge bats..."

Holy Jesus, what the hell are these damned animals?

A smirk. "I think I shall stop there before I give the Demon Murphy any more ideas."

No point in mentioning the bats. Poor bastards will see us soon enough.

[OOC: 18:42, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 23 using 1d20+4. Knowledge pop culture "Bat Country".]

Alex giggled in a manner that would have been profoundly painful if not for the recent healing. "And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. I mean that in a mean and military sense. Our magic would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave."

"The one time I ever got high was in College, study group for our COBOL class. One of the guys brought that movie over and some snacks. What he didn't tell any of us was that the cookies he made included more then a little pot. Damn that was a strange night... never again."

"If the monsters are gathering in Emerald City, I felt the heroes should be represented as well." Jiro smirked. "Clearly at some point we need to kill an evening with movies."

"I never did try drugs. Not from some self-righteous impulse, but because... well, they seem just a temporary escape from a problem. When the high is gone, you are poorer and the problem is still there." A shrug. "Gomen. I am being philosophical again."

"It was always fear of loss of control that did it for me. That I'd do something stupid and someone would get hurt or something. I was pissed at the guy once we figured out what was up with those cookies. Never even drank much, couple of drinks at the most."

She paused as she took a 20' jump. "Uhhh... on second thought I do kinda remember getting a bit hammered... a few times and... wow those are so not memories that I need to be thinking of right now. If you ever have the chance to have two peoples sets of memories poured into your skull, politely decline the offer with as much vigor as you would to the chance to become a vampire."

"I imagine it would be... unnerving." And while I wouldn't say it around you, I have entirely enough messed up in my head with the curse and some of the... wonderful... ideas my female half gets in my head.

"Non-consensual magical tampering in general seems to always end badly. I mislike it, which is part of why I reacted as I did to Johnny's situation, Alex-san."

"In any event, we should make haste. At least until we are a bit further from Bat Country."

"Mind rape, physical rape. Same fracking thing. Knew someone back in Canada who went through that and... I'd be hard fucking pressed to leave a rapist alive. And that kinda scares me."

Alex shook her head. "Yeah. Let's keep moving."

"I, too, would have to think long and hard before letting a rapist live. Of all crimes it is one of the most vile." Jiro went silent for a moment as he followed, roofhopping along. "Not a fun thing to think about."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:17, Sat 16 July 2011.

The pair continues in silence for a while, taking the long route around back to their temporary home. A minute or so after the start heading back towards the hotel, Alex comes to a stop. She tilts her head, as if listening for something.

Oh, this probably isn't good... Jiro comes to a halt beside Alex, straining his own hearing.

Should I ask? No, don't want to distract them... Distracted by the sound of the city, his attention was perhaps not all it could be.

[OOC: 19:34, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 21 using 1d20+12. notice check. Feth.]

"There's something..." Alex says softly, then starts moving off. She leaps to another roof, stops for a moment then jumps to another one. She's slowly making her way in the general direction of Bat Country and the motel. Both are still some distance away.

Jiro followed, brow furrowed, but he was too distracted to hear clearly over the sounds of the city. Perhaps I am still feeing tired from earlier, despite my nap?

"Any idea what?" he asked, feeling his own nerves begin to build.

[OOC: 20:01, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 19 using 1d20+12. notice check. Double feth]

"No. But I know it from somewhere." Alex hops another couple roofs.

"There. It's coming from over there." Alex points at a small park off of this residential area. There is a fairly dense wooded grove in the middle of it.

"A densely wooded grove in the middle of a city. That's not suspicious at all."

The trees were too dense for him to make out much, but there was some kind of light coming from it. Within, he saw a humanoid figure holding some kind of light source and moving about, with - he squinted, keen eyesight straining - a woman's face. Faintly, he could hear a voice. For a moment, he wracked his brains for any lore he could recall on mystic groves. Nothing but the kind of mushrooms that give you the most awesome trip ever dude... Bah, what I get for thinking about a drug movie.

"I see... something or someone moving in the trees... but I cannot make out any details..."

[OOC: 20:13, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 23 using 1d20+12. Notice check on the grove, yay extended darkvision.

20:14, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 9 using 1d20+8. Knowledge Arcana on glowing magical grove.]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:19, Sun 19 June 2011.

Alex nodded absently, and started to get closer. She tried to keep quiet, but she was distracted by something.

23:21, Today: Alex rolled 15 using 1d20+10. Stealth.

Oh, this is going to go very wrong... there's definately something unusual happening here... Another of the mental whammies that have hit Alex all through today? Jiro followed, ghosting along beside his friends in his usual style.

And if this is a mental whammy, should I try to... snap them out of it? Or would that make things worse, like waking a sleepwalker? No... No, for now I think I can do nothing but follow, and aid. Merciful Kamis, please let this not be some disaster in the making...

[OOC: skill mastery Stealth/Hide In Plain Sight. Array is in Ki Strike.]